Working as the Senior Executive Vice President of Turning Winds Academic Institute means that John Baisden has a lot of work to do from day to day. Besides being the represenative for all of the admission enrollments, he also has to make important decisions for the development of the school.One of the projects that John is most proud of, is the installation of a solar farm on the premises of TWAI. These solar panels produce enough electricity to operate 70% of the current facility power demand. The remainder of the electrical needs are offset by generator power. We have been generating our own power for over eight year now, so we know a thing or two about alternative energy and being self-sufficient.
Recently, one project which was pressing to finally decide upon was the replacement of an old bridge on the school property which gave us access to the back 120 acres of pasture land and forest. At Turning Winds Academic Institute, we have approximately 4,000 feet of The South Fork of The Yaak River which divides the school property.
Major flooding occurred during the Spring of 2012 which erroded away the bank where the bridge was placed by about three feet. This dropped the bridge elevation by about two feet and made for unsafe passage accross the South Fork of the Yaak River. After spending a great deal of time on the project, John Baisden finally got approval from regulatory agencies to build a new bridge. Even though it was expensive, the bridge opens up new opportunities for students and staff at Turning Winds Academic Institute. This will allow for the development of our activity fields; development of our animal therapy program and many other wonderful activities.
